Data on culture and leisure presented in this chapter provide an overview of the evolution of supply and demand for cultural goods and services in Italy, from the most traditional, such as museums, books and libraries to cinema and television, without overlooking other aspects more directly linked to leisure time, such as the sports.

The statistics are compiled in line with the conceptual and methodological framework used by Unesco and Eurostat. Data on the supply of cultural services are mainly drawn from administrative sources. In particular, the information on museums, art, libraries, theatre, music and sports, publishing and attendance of live events, and the audio-visual sector are taken from the main institutions operating in these areas. Of these, the most important sources of statistics are the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Italian Authors and Publishers Association (SIAE) and the Public Italian broadcasting company (RAI)... full text